1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatus, and products for filtering communications between users of a shared network.
2. Description of Related Art
Users of social networking websites or instant messenger networks are often spammed with communications such as friend requests and instant messages from users that are looking to promote unwelcome sales or other businesses. A user can be flooded with these spam communications and currently, each must be individually denied. Some social network websites allow a user to set your profile as private, requiring sender of communications to know some vital piece of information about the user before delivering the communicator. The drawback to this, however, is that many use social networking websites to keep in contact with people they have newly met or to meet new people. As such, a method is needed for preventing malicious users from spamming other users with unwelcome communications while allowing genuine users to keep their profiles open and public, ensuring that new people can find and contact them.